Archives for January 2014

Scott Rao needs no introduction for most of our readers. His landmark book The Professional Barista’s Handbookhas influenced the current generation of coffee professionals perhaps more than any other single resource. His books have been formative for our own coffee education, so we were excited for the opportunity to ask him a few questions.

You recently published your third book on coffee, Espresso Extraction. What motivates you to write?

I wrote my first book because I had some free time after selling a business and had always been frustrated as a barista that there were no good resources for learning. After 14 years of full time work owning cafes, I felt I was ready to contribute to the industry’s knowledge base, and spent a few months educating myself in the local university’s physics library before writing the professional barista’s handbook.

Eritrea is a country with a tragic history but a beautiful culture. Mom’s Coffee, a new short film directed by Ridwhan Jamal, captures the Eritrean coffee ceremony beautifully, from the freshly roasted coffee to the traditional jebanah vessel. Watch this video and learn about this beautiful tradition.

On January 17-19, the best baristas on the entire East Coast descended on Durham, NC for the 2014 Big Eastern Barista Competition. Official online media sponsors Sprudge had the coverage locked down, but that didn’t stop us from snapping a bunch of pictures between downing shots of espresso brewed by …

For most people, Arizona conjures up images of desert, cowboys, and cacti. With such a rugged heritage, it is little wonder the lion’s share of coffee shops here prefer to roast their own. But a strong micro-roaster scene also leaves room for committed cafes hawking out-of-state wares, and Giant Coffee in central Phoenix is standing tall in that gap. …

Recently, Serious Eats published an article by Nick Cho that advocated against roasting coffee at home. I am a big fan of Serious Eats. Content from that website has encouraged me to take on all manner of ambitious food projects; pizza-making, prime-rib-roasting and layer-cake-baking have all come home to my kitchen because Serious Eats offered first-class instructions for these endeavors. I am sad to say that the same attitude was not embraced regarding coffee-roasting. It is a shame because home roasted coffee can be excellent. I have been roasting at home for five years, and it has been a richly rewarding experience, with all of the pros and cons considered. I’d like to share my perspective on this issue.